Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to speak on a few issues this morning. First, I request the Leader of the House to ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs for an update on the Brexit negotiations. Every single day we get a drip feed of new crises from Tony Connolly from RTÉ. As the news reporting seems to be the best source of news we can get as Members at present, it would be really good if we could get a Minister into the Houses to talk us through what is actually happening, and what will happen on 1 January 2021. As someone from the Border region, I have more than a vested interest in the negotiations.

I also wish to reiterate what my colleagues said about what basically amounts to gender shaming. We had a great discussion yesterday in the Seanad on gender-based and domestic violence, and I am sick of women's bodies being used against them as a tool or a reason to put them down or to abuse them. Women are being abused and harassed because they can be, and there are no laws in place to prevent this. Thankfully yesterday the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, reiterated her desire to have online harassment legislation passed through the House before the end of the year. It is therefore very important that we grow up in this country and cop on. Women's bodies have been there for quite a long time and we need to grow with them.

My final point is to invite the relevant Minister to come to the House to discuss car insurance and the cost of it, particularly for young people. For young people in rural Ireland there is no public transport and they can no longer even car-share to get to college or wherever they need to be. The cost of car insurance is very prohibitive for young people, and therefore I would welcome a debate on the issue.